At First Sight

Ellanor sat where she always did, in the same wooden desk, squared away in the same corner, right next to the same old window. She kept to herself during the small break that came prior to the start of homeroom. Dug deep inside the pages of her math textbook, the sounds of murmuring voices proved to be too distracting for Ellanor, throwing her off her study flow. 

Try as she did to ignore the voices, Ellanor found herself, inadvertently, lending an ear to all the rumbling conversations. She couldn’t make out what was said exactly, but, then again, she ended up not needing to. The stares from her classmates were much louder than any of the words they uttered.

They watched her, analyzing her every move. If she sighed, the whole class would hold their breath. Flick her gaze at them? The class would turn and latch all of their attention onto the student unlucky enough to be caught in the iris of her eye, watching along until Ellanor pulled away. Should Ellanor lift her arms and stretch her whole body, looks of disapproval would be shot her way as if she was nothing but a distraction craving attention.

With these reactions from her peers, all Ellanor could do to get through the day was  to ignore everything and everyone around her, like always.

Just two more years and then… then I’ll just be stuck working alongside them.

Ellanor didn’t feel any disdain for her classmates, but the chance to get close to any of them had failed to materialize after all this time. Partly her fault, but mostly theirs.

They were the children of nobles and, as such, they were nobles themselves. Ellanor was not. It was because of this difference in prestige that the others had only kept their distance during their first year together. Now? They actively avoided and ostracized her.

She was sick of it.

So, when the morning bell rang, signaling the start of homeroom, relief washed over, the feeling was incredible.

Instead of hating me, they'll now aim that hatred at the classwork, lessons, and the instructors that assign them.

All the students that weren’t at their desks began to pour into their seats, with a handful of them giving Ellanor one last look of annoyance before turning their attention to the front of the classroom; a look that did not go unnoticed by Ellanor.

Ellanor slipped her textbook into her bag, gently nudging it between other textbooks and regular novels she carried around for leisure.

She waited silently along with the class, expecting their homeroom teacher to enter at any moment; instead, the silence dragged on for a worrying amount of time.

Their homeroom teacher, a short man they were to refer to as Mr. Achates, wasn’t the type to be late to class. In fact, Mr. Achates was usually the first person to enter their classroom. An early arrival, he claimed, served as the best way to mentally prepare for the day.

An early arrival also meant that, although students would still be allowed to chatter amongst themselves during the morning break, students would take the opportunity to ask him questions about the previous day’s curriculum during the morning break; they could even ask questions about the previous night's homework if they caught him in a good mood.

 On such high-spirited occasions, the students, with Ellanor occasionally included in their ranks, would end up going over each and every question on their worksheets; correcting any and all egregious mistakes that were usually in the form of rather lacking explanations and breakdowns of their work, scribblings of low quality.

Because of Mr. Achates's earnest and respectable nature, natures prominently showcased in his teaching methods, his late absence caused a stir of concern inside the classroom. The normally silent students erupted in murmurs once more. It was only once the front door to their classroom finally slid open that the students were forced to settle themselves down once more. 

Mr. Achates entered the classroom, hugging the entrance as he nodded his head out towards the hall, gesturing to someone on the other side of the entrance. His dark brown hair swayed back and forth from the nodding. He urged for the person outside to enter, trying to welcome them in with a warm smile. 

“Come on in. No need to be shy, we'll just take a moment to introduce you and then you can go take a seat.”

A moment later, a boy with red hair stepped into the classroom. He carried himself with an awkward confidence; though his posture was straight and proud looking, he kept his hands tucked, hidden away in the pockets of his jacket.

The boy gave a quick scan of the room, nodding back to the teacher afterwards. Although the boy had been quick with his curt scan of the classroom, Ellanor could have sworn that his gaze had lingered on her, longer than it had on any other student. The slight scowling of his eyebrows, when his eyes had met hers, made her sure of it. He had reacted to her specifically.

He was staring at me wasn’t he? He's a transfer student, right? Geez, with that look he gave me, he's probably already heard things about me. If so, its no wonder he had that look of disdain in his eye. What noble would want to share a class with a commoner like me?

The homeroom teacher marched on giddily to his desk, grabbing a piece of chalk from his drawer before writing the boy’s name on the board.

“We have a new transfer student joining our class this year. I would love it if you could all give him a big and warm welcome. Everyone, meet-”

“Paul Henderson,” Ellanor found herself audibly reading out loud the chicken scratch Mr. Achates had imparted onto the board. The moment she realized she had been heard, Ellanor covered her mouth with her sleeve in embarrassment.

“That is correct, Miss Evergreen. Everyone, say hello and welcome to Paul Henderson.”

Ellanor feared that the whole class would turn to look at her, treat her like the low peasant they all thought her to be. Yet, not a single one turned around to look at her, all of their focus was on the transfer student’s presence. As the class clapped for Paul, murmurs once again started up throughout the class.

“Whoa, what kind of person transfers halfway through a semester? Only high level nobles get away with something like that, especially at this academy."

"Plus, there's all that added-on coursework to catch up on. Guy is either a genius or an idiot to want to deal with all that."

“Regardless of intelligence, his looks more than make up for it. Isn't he kind of cute?”

“You’re all looking at the wrong things, look at his height and build, we should totally recruit him for the dueling club. He could be our best shot at winning this year."

Ellanor let out a sigh of relief, it seemed her classmates, for the first time in a long while, were more interested in someone other than her, even if she had made a slight fool of herself.

The sensation of the transfer student’s gaze being cast on her once again, however, zapped her out her calmness. Whether it was because he heard the whispers about him or something there was something about Ellanor herself, Paul held an odd look on his face as he looked at her. Ellanor found herself reaching for the collar of her shirt, ensuring that the top was buttoned up. 

Why does he keep looking at me? Am I truly that despicable?

The teacher clapped his hands together. “Alright everyone, settle down so that Mr. Henderson can give us all a few words. Mr. Henderson?”

Paul nodded. He cleared his throat before combing through his hair with his fingers and parting the front part to his right side. “Like Mr. Achates said, My name is Paul Henderson. I just suddenly-I mean, I just recently transferred here so I’m very new to the area…”

Paul scratched the side of his cheek, turning his head towards Mr. Achates. Mr. Achates gestured to him with his hands, “Go on, you’re doing great.”

“My main hobby is playing video games-I mean games, playing games. Let’s see, I also like reading and I love strong coffee. Anyways, I hope to get along with each and every one of you this year.”

Paul gave a slight bow to which Mr. Achates then led the class in applause.

“Thank you for that wonderful introduction. Now then,” Mr. Achates said as he began to bounce his gaze around the room, “where will we have you sit?”

Ellanor tried to hide her face but Mr. Achates locked his eyes with hers the moment his gaze had wandered over in her direction. 

Mr. Achates flashed a smile at Ellanor, a friendly smile that morphed into a mischievous smirk. “Ms. Evergreen, can you raise your hand?”

Please don’t Mr. Achates, the transfer student is going to think you’re bullying him if you place him next to me.

Despite Ellanor’s internal protest, she diligently raised her hand in the air at her teacher’s request.

“Mr. Henderson, there is an open seat next to Ms. Evergreen, why don’t you go settle yourself down there? We'll be starting with our homeroom shortly.”

Paul nodded. He approached his newly assigned desk with a nervous stride, slipping his schoolbag over the back of his seat before sitting down.

The moment he plastered himself into his seat, Mr. Achates began roll-call.

Normally, Ellanor would have sat silently awaiting her turn to, loudly and clearly, say “here” once her name was called. But this time, she felt restless. The source for her restlessness? Paul, or rather, his bag.

Ellanor couldn’t help herself. She tapped on the boy’s shoulder, whispering just loud enough for only him to hear her. “Your bag.”

“Huh?”

“Your bag, it's supposed to go on the hooks on the side of your desk.”

“Oh? Really?” Paul mumbled as he switched locations for his bag. “Thanks, Ellanor.”

Paul’s use and familiarity of Ellanor’s first name made Ellanor turn her full attention towards him.

“How do you know my name?” Ellanor asked him, fearing that the source had been the insults and bad-mouthing surrounding her.

“Crap.”

“Crap?”

“No, what I meant to say is, ugh, never mind.”

“Answer my question,” Ellanor said, slightly raising her voice.

“Miss Evergreen?” Mr Achates called.

“Y-Yes?” Ellanor stuttered.

Mr. Achates chuckled. “You’re supposed to say present. Mr. Henderson?” Mr. Achates continued.

“Present.”

Mr Achates nodded, continuing to mark down attendance of the rest of the class, all the while Ellanor reeled from her flustered and unprepared response.

“It was the clipboard."

“What?” Paul’s sudden response made Ellanor forget about her embarrassment for a moment.

“I saw your name above mine on Mr. Achates’ clipboard. He showed it to me. Told me that if I had any questions I could direct them towards you. Cuz, you’re a genius and all that.”

“He said that?”

“Well, the genius part I inferred all on my own, but yeah, he spoke highly of you.”

For some reason, when Paul mentioned how Mr. Achates spoke of Ellanor, Paul broke into a smug smile which Ellanor found to be quite odd.

I guess he’s happy about that? Well, I guess that just means the rumors just haven’t reached his ears… I wonder how long he’ll keep speaking to me.

As Ellanor found herself lost in thought, a hand reached out towards her. Paul’s hand. Ellanor stared at it blankly until Paul started chuckling.

“Do people not do handshakes here?”

“No, they do…”

Paul wiggled his hand in the air. “So this is just your way of hazing the new guy, leaving him awkwardly hanging.”

Ellanor reached out for his hand. “No! That’s not-”

“Pleased to meet you Ellanor,” Paul said warmly as he shook her hand.

Ellanor stared at the clasped hands for a moment before returning the greeting. “Its nice to meet you too, Mr. Henderson.”

“Mr. Henderson?” Paul said with a laugh. “What am I? My dad?”

Ellanor stammered a series of noises, but no real words came out of her mouth.

“Relax, will ya. I’m just giving you a hard time. Besides, that lady already drilled it into me, all you nobles only use first names here once a bond of familiarity is established.”

Noble? Does he think I'm like the rest of them? Misconceptions aside, who on earth could he be referring to as 'that lady.' Such flippant disregard in his words, I could never.

“If you know that," Ellanor said, "then I would appreciate it if you didn’t give me a ‘hard time’ next time.”

“Next time, huh? Well, maybe next time you’ll just call me Paul, Ellanor.”

“Are you not listening to me?”

Though Ellanor shook her head at that moment, as she and Paul let go of their handshake, she could have never expected that Paul would become her best friend; eventually wishing for their blooming friendship to blossom into something more.